Devotay Chef and owner Kurt Friese mixes up a perfectly legal cocktail called the East Ender at the Iowa City restaurant Nov. 2. Friese has started a petition to change an Iowa law that says restaurants and bars cannot infuse alcohol or create their own bitters. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

IOWA CITY — When Kurt Friese began building a handcrafted bar for his restaurant, Devotay, he had visions of creating cocktails with his own infusions and bitters.

But then he found out about an Iowa law that prevents restaurants and bars from selling liquor which is stored in anything but the original packaging purchased from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.

According to sections of Iowa Code 123.49, establishments with a liquor license also cannot have any liquor on the premises that has been infused with contents such as fruits, vegetables or herbs, with the exception of mixed drinks or cocktails made for immediate consumption.

“You can do an infusion if you sell it on the same day,” Friese said. “But to make a proper infusion, it takes time. Bitters have to sit for 3 to 8 weeks.”

Bitters — a bittersweet type of spirit undrinkable on its own made from different herbs, roots and plants — and infusions aren’t meant to increase alcohol consumption, Friese says.

Devotay Chef and Owner Kurt Friese mixes up a perfectly legal cocktail called the East Ender at the restaurant Nov. 2 in Iowa City. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

”If anything, they allow you to savor the flavor and drink less,” he says. “What I want to do doesn’t hurt anybody. It’s all about the flavor.”

Tonya Dusold, Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division communications director, said infusing spirits has become a trend nationwide the last couple of years, making the little-known law come to light.

“In the last year, we have been making education efforts, rather than taking sanctions,” she said. “I don’t think licensees are deliberately breaking the law.”

The division has sent out 25 letters explaining the law after receiving complaints from either customers or law authorities.

“We haven’t taken any action for any licensee,” Dusold said. “We are doing enforcement by educational materials.”

Sanctions for breaking these laws can include fines, suspensions and revocation. If criminally convicted of storing spirits in containers other than the original packaging or reusing bottles, Iowa code mandates automatic revocation of the establishment’s liquor license.

While the division is the enforcement body for alcohol laws in Iowa Code 123, Dusold said changing the law is a legislative decision.

That is what Friese is trying to do.

In October, he started an online petition, Raise the Bar, hoping to get 1,000 signatures to encourage the Iowa Legislature to change the law.

Bitters are shown at Devotay restaurant Nov. 2 in Iowa City. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

So far, the petition has more than 235 signatures, ranging from fellow bar and restaurant owners to those interested in creative spirits.

Rebecca Neades, vice president of public policy at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, supports Friese’s effort.

“This law goes back to Prohibition, and it’s always important to look at how society is different today than it was then,” she said. “It’s a matter of updating our current liquor laws to reflect our times. It’s time for us to look at this.”

Friese believes the law resulted from the time just after Prohibition when unscrupulous saloon keepers poured out top-shelf liquor and replaced it with dangerous or diluted liquor in the bottle.

The law dates back to the 1920s, before Prohibition, Dusold said.

This isn’t the first time Neades has backed a change to a liquor law.

A couple years ago, she supported Cedar Ridge Vineyards, Winery and Distillery owner and master distiller Jeff Quint’s efforts to update a law regarding distilling alcohol on the same premises it is sold.

Devotay Chef and Owner Kurt Friese mixes up a perfectly legal cocktail called the Slow Drawl using Iowa-made alcohol at the restaurant Nov. 2 in Iowa City. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

“That again went back to Prohibition and separation of church and state,” Neades said.

In 2010, the law was updated to allow an Iowa distillery, such as Cedar Ridge near Swisher, to sell up to two bottles a day to an individual on the premises. Although the liquor is made at the distillery, the bottles are still sent to the Alcoholic Beverages Divisions and then and bought back by the distillery for resale.

Quint, of Cedar Ridge, supports Friese’s movement to change the infusion/packaging law.

“If you travel around the country, you see some awesome infusions behind the bar,” Quint said. “It’s interesting and fun.”

He does, however, agree with Friese’s stipulation that in-house infusions should only be allowed in establishments with a licensed kitchen.

“Once food is added to it, it is a food product,” Dusold, of the ABD, said. “There are health issues.”

Friese, who has been in food service for more than 30 years, said he infuses fruit into recipes without a problem in the restaurant’s kitchen.

“If you can trust me to put raspberries in vinegar, you should trust me to put it in alcohol,” he said. “Why keep responsible, licensed bar owners from being creative?”